County GOP's "Storm" Video Unleashes Political Firestorm

UPDATE — The Rockland County Republican Party removed a controversial video from its Facebook page Thursday after a swell of outrage over its anti-Semitic tone.

Chairman Lawrence Garvey put a statement on Facebook. "To be clear, this is not and has never been a religious issue. This is also not a republican or democrat issue. It is about the greed of a handful of elected officials who wish to yield their power over an entire county," he said.

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — The Rockland County Republican Party released a video Wednesday opposing the political forces that are promoting what its members consider overdevelopment. They used the motif of a gathering storm, and unleashed a political storm that reached to Albany.

The video singles out Rockland's only Hasidic legislator, Aron Weider, saying he and the politicians, developers and residents he represents, "the Ramapo bloc," seek not only to over-develop the western end of the county but also to spread their political power across Rockland.

The video is entitled "A Storm Is Brewing in Rockland" and it is set to ominous music with a tense and foreboding drumbeat.

On their Facebook page, GOP party officials summarized the video:

If They Win, We Lose! The stakes have never been higher. The future of our County, our communities, and our homes hangs in the balance of this year’s election on November 5th. If Aaron Weider and his Ramapo machine win, they will control the upcoming redistricting of the County Legislative Districts and spread the influence of Ramapo throughout our County. If this happens, it will be the end of our County as we know and love it. On November 5th, we must vote like our way of life depends on it. On Election Day, stand with County Executive Ed Day and Take Back Control to Preserve and Protect our County!

In the video they showed a series of current high-density developments in the county and at Kiryas Joel, a rapidly growing ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Orange County.

They showed contrasting scenes of suburban neighborhoods and farmland.

Then they called for protection of "our way of life" and they showed a photo of a smiling white family in front of a single-family house.

That was too shrill dog-whistle politics for many.

Comments on the party's Facebook post ran the gamut.

Some called the post anti-Semitic. Some said no one who didn't live in a Rockland neighborhood that has been targeted by real estate agents would understand why anti block-busting laws and more are necessary.

One response was, "This is all about demographics. If the non-hasidic people want their neighborhoods to remain the way they have been since the 1960s, then just don't sell your house no matter how rich you can be if you do sell. It's really that simple. But ultimately, you can't change human population shifts and migration patterns. Otherwise you'd be speaking Algonquin or Dutch right now."

Anti-Semitism isn’t just Jews getting punched in the face.

It’s videos like this, that paint religious Jews as the “other”. I am shocked that the Rockland County GOP approved this ad.

This video says a lot more about the people who made it than the people it seeks to condemn. pic.twitter.com/43LNeh1ygu
— Councilman Deutsch (@ChaimDeutsch) August 29, 2019

Rockland County Executive Ed Day issued a statement Thursday morning:

The video posted by the Rockland County Republican Party to their Facebook page has set a troubling tone for a necessary conversation about overdevelopment in our county. While the content of the video is factual, the tone and undercurrent is unacceptable. Having listened closely to the concerns raised by residents and community leaders, I have contacted GOP Chairman Lawrence Garvey to request its removal and he assured me that he will.
As I have demonstrated, I have a great deal of respect for our Jewish neighbors and want them to know that as their County Executive I will always stand up against hatred. That said, the concerns raised about overdevelopment are accurate, well-grounded and desperately need to be addressed, but this must be done in a way free of rhetoric and rancor.

With the political storm raging, Day and the independent Rockland County Illegal Housing Task Force postponed their planned press conference. They were going to ask the state government for help, to support recommendations made by the state Senate’s Committee on Investigations and Government Operations. The report by Committee Chairman James Skoufis cites critical problems in code enforcement in Ramapo that continue to go unaddressed, risking the health and safety of residents and first responders.

Rockland has been accused of anti-Semitism before, including in a controversial video in 2015 comparing the county to Nazi Germany. Neighborhoods have suffered from blockbusting real-estate tactics. Also, firefighters and police officers have complained about dangerously illegal conditions in Hasidic communities, including illegally converted housing and private schools.

SEE:

• The Patrick Farm Proposal - The Issue Is Overdevelopment
• Court Tells Controversial Ramapo Development To Start Over
• Halting Real-Estate Solicitation In Chestnut Ridge
• New Report Shows NY Code Enforcement 'Hellscape' In The HV
• Firefighters, Officials Call for State to Intervene in Ramapo, Spring Valley Code Enforcement
• Spring Valley Building Inspector, Businessman Indicted
• Rockland County Reports Progress Taking on Slumlords
• County Executive Throws Down the Gauntlet To Ramapo, Other Rockland Developers
• Political Signs with Anti-Semitic Undertones Appear in Rockland
• Video Compares Rockland County to Nazi Germany